Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in side - sim: Honoring the Ardent

Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in side - sim: Honoring the Ardent

Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in side - sim: Honoring the Ardent
Posted by… suppressed (11) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
As she worked out the knot that required both her hands Roman made another “ooohhh” sound as it relaxed. He smiled as she kissed his neck and then nodded. “We can wait until then.” He figured she was avoiding Randy, he’d done it before whenever he skipped one of his sessions with Randy. Though for him it was more difficult, he didn’t always know when Randy’s shifts were. “What do you want to do today?”

~ Roman

---

A week went by with not much improvement. Roman still worked endless hours, Rand still worried, but she was getting some sleep. At least she tried harder to. That is in large part due to Randy. She had managed to avoid him on her day off, or maybe he’d given her a reprieve. Randy hadn’t bothered to check on Rand, because if she hadn’t slept he was sure Alden would have been knocking on his door again.

Roman had spent the week working. He tried to make a little time for Rand, at least he was showing up at his quarters now, at 2100, sometimes 2200. He didn’t sleep, or didn’t sleep much, but he lay with Rand so she’d sleep better. He was eating a little more than he had been, still never full meals.

He caught Rand after her morning meeting the next day and they spent two very long hours in their quarters. Rand’s behavior had been erratic and not like her usual anxious self. Randy blamed himself for that, he wasn’t spending as much time with her as they usually did an he’d missed it. In the end it came down to the events on Kelmao and right after had been almost too much, emotionally, and not all because of Alden. Apparently she’d felt sick, like she had on their 18th, when she got trapped above the sink hole. It had gotten worse the longer she was stuck. Rand had thought she was having another stress cardiomyopathy. Obviously she hadn’t, she was okay, but she’d been frightened enough for it to linger. When he asked her why she hadn’t said anything her response was, “Tell who? We had no medical officers with us.”

A week had gone by since Alden had last spoken to Randy, and since it didn’t appear that Alden was going to just show up, Randy went looking. Alden was in his office and not his lab, so Randy knocked and when the door opened he walked in, sat down and grinned. “Why is it you and my sister think you can avoid me? This is a really small ship.”

Randy

By the time Randy tracked him down, Roman looked tired again. He’d been avoiding Randy since he skipping his usual session time, and that was why he was working in his office, in the hopes that Randy would only check the lab and leave. That, and so that if he fell asleep at his desk it was less likely his officers would notice. When Randy knocked, Roman said, “Enter,” and pressed the button to allow the door to open. And then Randy strolled in and Roman pointedly kept working on what he was doing, looking down at his work instead of at Randy. “Sometimes I wonder why I let her talk me into this,” he commented, meaning speaking to Randy. He didn’t really mean it of course, he just didn’t want to talk.

~ Roman

Randy’s grin took up the space in the office and he folded his hands across himself and stretched out his legs, making himself quite comfortable. There was a glint in his eye as he debated in which way he would answer. “She is most sensible and rational when it comes to the care of anyone but herself. And it’s Rand, how can anyone who loves her possible say no to her?”

Roman smiled and shook his head, Randy was right of course. Roman would rarely say no to her.

“How goes the work? When are you going to finish that project review?”

Randy

“When I have time,” Roman answered vaguely, setting his current work aside. “It will get done. Next week. Perhaps the week after. My other work is on track. Would you like to see Mushu?” Anything to not work on the project. Anything so Randy wouldn’t push him about it.

~ Roman

“Mushu? Mushu? Mushu?” Randy muttered, “OH! That freaky lizard with the eyes that flap around? That thing creeps me out, no thanks.” Randy understood and recognized deflection when it was thrown in his face. And Alden must be desperate to offer to let Randy play with him. Randy also knew how much Alden hated for anyone to know or even suspect that something was wrong. Rand could allow him to avoid the situation, but Randy could not. “You know eventually they are going to wonder what the hold up is because you finished all the others in record time. Granted it’s your project so you will have more time invested. But eventually they will wonder.”

Randy

Roman looked offended. “Mushu is not creepy.” Roman loved the lizard, and liked showing him to people, partly because Mushu was definitely one of his safer critters. Randy would be more a threat to Mushu than the other way around. But Roman’s attempt to deflect failed and Randy played on another of Roman’s sensitivities. If he took too long, or changed how he was working, someone might think something was wrong. And Roman couldn’t have that. He made a face and then dropped his head to his hands. “I know, I know,” he hissed. “But it was years of effort. I’ve got time. I’m sure it’ll be a while before they start asking.”

~ Roman

Time. Yes he had time, but Randy knew if given that time it would extend until he was retired and never dealt with OR he would be pushed by some brass in command who decided he wanted to make a name for himself by improving ‘effeciency’ or something equally idiotic. “You could tell them your own current projects, abs, and XO duties take precedence and you don’t have time for it. If research is still needed you suggest reassignment. Then you don’t have to deal with it at all.”

Randy

Roman looked up. “I’m not handing it off. It’s my work, my project.” He couldn’t let someone else go through his work, those recordings. They were all professional of course. But they were personal in a way, too. He wasn’t ready to handle it himself but there was no way he’d do what Randy suggested and give it away.

~ Roman

Of course Randy knows why Alden wants to maintain control of it, but Alden needed to voice the reason to himself. “True but you aren’t working on it. You are avoiding the project. Let someone else do it.” Randy held his hand up in a little shrug, “Some one else can still do it. You aren’t the only biologist in Star Fleet, and you aren’t planning on continuing the work. If you have so much currently going on you would delicate other projects, so why not that one?”

Randy

Roman shook his head. “I am planning on continuing the work. I can’t hand it off.” Why not delegate it? Wasn’t it obvious? But Roman wouldn’t say it. The disks sat at the edge of his desk, waiting, untouched since he’d put them there. There was a piece of paper over top of them, he’d grown tired of looking at them, or avoiding looking at that part of his desk.

~ Roman

“Why can’t you? It’s been years, you don’t have the samples or the animals anymore. Your current lab is too small for what you have.” Randy knew this because he had spent endless hours helping maximize the space just to have barely enough room for what Alden had. He pointed at the disks, “You can’t even look at them. They are covered up and there they will stay until you forget what is on them and they get erased. If the project is important then let someone work on it.”

Randy

“They won’t get erased!” Roman would never let that happen. The information on them was too valuable, both scientifically and personally. He lowered his voice, not wanting to be overheard. “Did we have to do this here?” He muttered frustratedly. “There… There wasn’t much left to be done. And I’m trying to move Mr Wyvern already. I don’t think space would be a problem. Most samples are small. We’d also need some live plants, but those take much less space than animals.”

~ Roman